DISCYPHER [ BIND ]

"As Fade is the only initiator with us today, I need Disko and Fade to hold B site together." Viper's voice hollers through the intercom, over the sound of the helicopter's propellers. The hardened women nod in understanding, Fade already slinging her rifle over her shoulder as she bounds up the ramp towards the B site. Disko isn't as quick to obey, deciding instead to review her current teammates once more and listen intently to Sabine's instructions, even the ones not meant for her.

"I'll back up Cypher's hold in Lamps. You'll need time to install that camera anyway." Brimstone follows up, receiving a noise of affirmation from the sentinel. 

Amir brushes past Dolores to follow Brimstone, a gloved hand touching her shoulder. "Stay safe, my dear." The statement isn't echoed in Disko's in-ear, and she concludes that Amir briefly muted himself just to whisper that to her. She doesn't miss the way Sabine's eyes narrow at her after that interaction, and she salutes her leader in jest. "I didn't do any fraternizing!" If Viper rolled her eyes, she didn't see it, because Disko was already skipping up the same ramp Fade had, making her way to her starting position at B site. 

 

Disko leaps up the crates that assist her into the Hookah, noting the cramped space she would be working with. It already sucked that she couldn't wear her roller skates to this mission, seeing as they were absolutely useless on the sand. She doesn't get to start remembering every off angle she can play however, when she hears Fade call over to her from her position at Long.

"Cypher, huh? Took you long enough."

Dolores has no idea what Hazal means by that. 

"How did you know?" 

If Hazal could see Dolores' face, she'd note the surprise that seemed to keep increasing. Hazal wasn't exactly known for small talk, and the two weren't particularly close either. Dolores is pretty certain this is one of the few times they've spoken about personal matters instead of work related ones, and is surprised she's doing it right before a high stake mission. 

Plus, it hasn't been long since Dolores and Amir finally ironed out a few of their own spanners in the work. Between the busy missions, obligatory company sanctioned dinners, and the friend groups the each of them developed, (you wouldn't exactly find Disko hanging out with Chamber and Omen. And Cypher had nothing in common with Lyrus and Birdie,) it was downright impossible for any kind of heart to heart. A duelist and a sentinel, though far from unheard of, did not get many opportunities to be alone together. Raze and Killjoy were an anomaly of their own, of course. Dolores doesn't think it's merely a coincidence then when both her and Amir were finally granted breaks off from their work life, especially since they were given the exact same length of time off.

"You're not subtle." Hazal finally responds, a little too nonchalantly for Dolores' liking. Unlike the other duelist sentinel pair, she would like to think that herself and Amir were a lot better at keeping it lowkey, and they were at least not always joined at the hip. Call her old fashioned, but they had agreed on taking things slowly, knowing the sort of embarrassments that could come out of a failed relationship between colleagues. Amir especially had so many disclaimers and qualms he wanted to clarify, kindly explaining why it would be difficult for Disko to "spend so much time with someone as dangerous as himself." They weren't like Birdie and Sova either, who were very obviously comfortable with each other, chiding one another's shortcomings on the field like they were the other's parent. They had a lot of things to figure out, and all they'd come to learn was that the growing affection between them was far more reciprocated than either of them expected.

Admittedly, Dolores can't say she knows much about actual relationships that aren't a drunken fling. But when she found herself finally relating to Ruby's endless rambles, she figured she'd found something pretty close. Behind the mystique of anonymity, Amir made her feel a renewed sort of protection and joy for life. Whatever it was about him, she found herself having more patience than ever to listen to technological advancements in spyware, and chess openings. That was a feat, as not even Lyrus could get her to sit still for that long and still be that focused. 

"I suppose you of all people would be the first to find out." The taunt is light hearted, and the only respond Dolores receives is a loud snap of Hazal's Seize between her fingers. 

"Focus." Sabine's voice can be heard, making both Fade and Disko jump. Right, they were communicating where the others could hear. That included Amir, Disko notes, shaking her head at how blatantly childish it felt to single him out now that they were quote unquote official. She felt a little immature thinking of such things at her age. What an equally enjoyable yet intriguing thing it was to have feelings for somebody. 

Disko snaps herself out of the distraction, putting the conversation behind her. She supposes if Fade was so interested in finding out first hand what it was like to date Cypher, she could find out more after they ensure no radianite gets stolen today. Steadying her thoughts, she drops her gun for a moment, taking out a switchblade instead as she gives the entrance of Hookah a quick jump peek, scanning over the unfamiliar enemy territory in an attempt to gather some information.

"I think they're outside Long, at the Fountain. They have a Sage. Didn't see me though." Well, Dolores thinks it's an enemy Sage. There's only one member between both Alpha and Omega protocols who had such long black hair. And if that didn't give it away, the slowness orb thrown at her feet definitely did. She opts not to peek again, the sight of just one enemy a threat on it's own. 

"Think they saw me. My position's exposed, might be cornered, gonna taking the teleporter to safety." Fade huffs, her voice crackling through the device. Disko doesn't question Fade's decision to basically abandon her, especially when she hears her throw her Seize with a grunt. The duelist almost misses her asking if Showers is compromised, the sound of the teleporter interfering with the communication signal. She strains her ears to hear the multitude of gunshots trying to rid of the Haunt thrown high above, the last thing Fade had done to provide herself some cover, and despite the shot down Haunt scanning no one, she's certain the majority of the enemy's numbers were around the corner.

"Shit, guys, it's a fast B, there's at least three down Long." Disko tries to whisper into the radio, finding that she needs to raise her voice a lot higher over the gunfire. Now that the enemy has been exposed, they seem to be speeding up their execute, the sound of heavy footsteps and artillery stomping up the sandy terrain. 

Repositioning on site, she now sees why Fade had left so hastily. The enemy Phoenix's fire-y molotov had landed right at the Garden's entrance, preventing her from retreating and ultimately cornering her. A glimpse from an exposed angle between herself on site and the enemy forces gathered on outside Garden confirmed her earlier suspicions. Thankfully, the molotov was lasting long enough to stall out their own site execute, giving her just enough time to very luckily dodge an attempt to wall-spam her down.

When there's no response on the other end for a moment, Disko contemplates radioing a second time, until Brimstone's voice comes back to let her know they were on their way. Taking a deep breath, the duelist tries not to let the feeling of sand blowing near her eyes get to her, instead popping a joint in her neck and reloading her gun to a full clip with fervour. With Fade's absence, she's going to need to stall this out as long as she can for her teammates to reach in time, and she does not give up a site easily. 

"Joke's over, you're dead!" A loud cry rings out from just over the bend, alongside the all too familiar double blast packing of a Raze, and Disko begins a full sprint into Elbow. So much for not giving up the site. The enemy Phoenix's ult was practically un-tradeable at the moment, with her being the only one on site, and she definitely could not risk losing more control than she already had. The retake would be impossible at that rate. 

"You better not overheat." Viper's voice, cold despite the circumstances, comes through on her in-ear. She doesn't bother retorting as she dodges a flash, waiting for the enemy Phoenix's ultimate to end on its own accord. In the meantime, Disko scopes down onto the entrance from her position in Hall. The enemy Raze was notorious for pushing further than necessary, and she could not risk her slipping through the cracks and taking a timing while rotates were still coming in.

Only when a dark blue orb smoke covers the entrance she's holding does she figure that the Raze isn't going to be showing anymore signs of aggression.

"You guys better hurry then!" Disko's voice is barely a whisper, trying not to expose her own position, while still evidently frustrated. The idyllic chatter she just had with Hazal currently felt like it happened a century ago.

"We're trying, the enemy Sage has a barrier up." Fade exerts in between finishing another magazine, caring far less about being sneaky now that they've been forced to fire the wall down.

"You're trying to flank them?!"

"Fade and I are, what's holding you two up?" Sabine is the one to answer this time, with Fade's efforts droning in the background.

Disko yelps when the enemy Raze sends a nade her direction, through the god damn window some construction worker thought it'd be smart to add a while back. She only barely managing to avoid the paintshell's damage by dipping back into Elbow briefly, the ground under her crackling with every step as she realised the area had a slow orb land. That's the second slow orb she's run into now, and it's times like this that Disko desperately wishes she has a flash of some sort. Why didn't Ryo or the robot come with them again?!

"There's a lurker behind us." Brim finally gets back to them, his voice almost inaudible. Disko takes note of how the communications coming from Brimstone's side is far quieter than that of Sabine's. Amir has yet to send a call out of his own, and she worries for just a second he had forgotten to unmute himself. 

"We've cleared Showers, Liam." Sabine states, matter of factly in retaliation, obviously trying not to waste any unnecessary time.

"They slipped through short, Cypher's trapwire was taken down. We're holding Lamps. Give us a moment."

"Uh, please hurry cause they're about to plant the spike!" Disko's urgent voice was trying to convey that they absolutely did not have time to be holding a lurker. Especially not two of them! Amir had a camera that could do just that, and she really did not want to be running circles around the enemy team any more than she had to. The faster this retake could start, the better this will go, she thinks. This is why Dolores always much prefered going on missions with her fellow duelists, Tala "Neon" Nicole especially. 

Unfortunately, the circumstances just didn't allow it, and with Sabine's instructions to just delay the spike plant, Disko had no choice but to consider re-clearing Elbow. She still had her full kit, and if she could just get one and get out...

"Yo, inferior Jamie!" Disko yelled, getting the attention of her rival. Feigning a bullet shot from Garden, she let the radiant skills within her come alive, aiming her rifle at where she expected Phoenix's teammates to pop their heads. Headshot. That was the enemy Sage, a perfect first blood to ensure no one on the enemy team would be getting any recovery. She almost smirks when she hears the familiar clang of metal, an indication of a dropped bomb. That should stall them some more time. With her one job done, she briefly enjoyed the feeling of her now taut, rubbery skin pumping extra adrenaline and speed into her veins. Like Pheonix, she was also un-tradeable as long as she was bulletproof. But that didn't last forever, the seconds were already ticking down, and she needed to get out of their sights, fast.

"UM can I PLEASE have a smoke to hide in?!" Panicking ever so slightly at how exposed she was, Disko made the split second decision to sprint into Long after her kill, now without the safety of the walls of the Hall around her. Brimstone only muttered an apology before finally smoking her off, albeit a pretty badly placed one, and she took the chance to lean against the side of the teleporter Fade had taken just moments prior, heaving from the thrill. Now with numbers, this was an advantageous situation, and from the sounds of it, Viper and Fade had just finished re-clearing Hookah. She'd be safe from behind, at the very least. 

"Not a spike tap, they're planting for real." Fade reminds, and from her new position at the Garden, Disko watches a stream of pure acid get dispensed into a corner. Viper was starting the retake, with or without Brim and Cypher. The enemy Phoenix scurries out of the cover, skipping and hopping from the evident acid burning him. Disko swings at Sabine's call, spraying down the already weakened opposition. The second the kill is confirmed, her charge activates again, her skin hardening. It only takes two eliminations for her charge to return, after all. Back to feeling invincible, she returns on site, quickly clearing any close quarters for Fade and Viper to exit the Hookah and join her.

Five versus three, this should be clean up from now on.

But strangely, no one was shooting at them. Were they that afraid? Or were they waiting for someone to start the defusal? Disko's mind races as she presses her back against the wall of the site, scanning every off angle as quickly as she can. The only explanation she could come up with as the beeping droned on before her was that the enemy were waiting for her small window of bulletproof charge to end. She reconsiders the enemy's positions. There's a lurker in Lamps, Sage and Phoenix were dead... and Raze threw a grenade earlier. Wait, where was the enemy Raze? 

 

She whips her head around to the Elbow position she had taken refuge in earlier just as Sabine and Hazal jump out, with Hazal instinctively pulling out the defuser. Her bulletproof charge had ended, and just as she had feared most, her opposition was pointing a gun straight to her forehead, having used Brim's frantically placed orb smoke against her. She did not even get the opportunity to call out the threat, as the rival Raze pulls the trigger on her vandal, one shot going straight through her frontal lobe. The next shot cleanly going into Sabine's. The third into Hazal's. Now she can only see black.

 

---

"Wh...?" Dolores blinks wearily as her body undoes it's stiffness, feeling oxygen and life returning to her limbs. The sound of the helicopter's propeller was far too grating for her to handle, and she pressed her gloved hands harshly against the sides of her head, feeling the pound in her head increase tenfold. Forcefully subduing the sound of the propeller and engines gave her the chance to take in her surroundings, a cooling sensation in her otherwise burning chest as she feels Sage's healing orb taking effect. Viper was still out cold on her right, a dried trail of red coming from her temple to between her eyes, completely devoid of life in a way that used to give her chills. On her left, Fade was using her coat almost as a blanket, wearing it from the front rather than how one would usually wear a jacket. When their eyes met, Hazal gave her a weak smile, which would've seemed uncharacteristic for the initiator, if it weren't for the "I lived, bitch" energy she exuded. Disko tried her hardest to smile back, but she thinks she only managed to wince, apologising softly to Sage for straining her muscles, even if just for a moment. But Sage's back was already towards her, starting her work on bringing life back to Sabine. Dolores unfortunately caught another glimpse of the limp, motionless leader, her mask and filter pulled off her face only highlighting her exanimate body further. 

"Cypher, ' hack , your girl's up." Hazal announces between coughs, her voice raspier than Dolores had ever heard. She whips her head back to Hazal, ignoring the way her head throbbed from the speed. "Your girl"? Dolores thinks she likes the way that sounds. Did Amir ask Hazal to inform him when she came to? Despite having failed missions before, dying before, and being revived before, she's only now wondering if Amir had seen her in the same lifeless state that Sabine was currently in. Her heart ached for the leader she respected, even if she knew the demise was temporary. She could only imagine the agony one would feel seeing their most beloved in that state. He had told her to stay safe, and she had failed him. Plus, he'd already lost Nora, hadn't he? 

Dolores had no chance to continue that solemn train of thought as she notices Amir make his way to the make-shift infirmary from the cockpit, likely handing the duty of piloting the aircraft over to Brimstone. Wait, if she, Hazal, and Sabine were the only ones injured...

"Did you two manage to clutch it out?"

"Indeed. After we finally managed to deal with Omen, Liam and I each got one. It got very close though." 

There's an audible sigh of relief from Dolores, and from Hazal's reaction, she believes he'd already shared the outcome of the mission with her. Now with the solace of a successful mission, and the sight of all her teammates safe with her (and Viper, who would definitely be safe once she came back to life), the duelist finally lets herself relax, sinking back into the thin mattress she had been laid on. Now that her head was a little clearer, she does notice the defused bomb, now defective, in a corner of the aircraft. 

Initially, the rest of the ride back to the headquarters was uneventful. When Sabine eventually regained consciousness, Amir was the one to pass her the damp towel to wipe off the dried blood. Dolores held a hand to her forehead, where a bullet hole had nestled itself into her just mere hours ago. She hadn't noticed any dried blood on her when she awoke. Sensing her confusion, Hazal jerked a thumb towards Amir, letting Dolores put the pieces together. Had he wiped her face clean before she was revived? It would make sense, considering how often the Moroccan spoke about cleaning up crime scenes... That, and as most of the protocol laments, resurrecting back into a bloody and dirty body always felt terrible. What she attributed to the relieve of Sage's healing orb could have also been due to Amir's foresight, she supposed. 

Taking a good look at Amir, who was dutifully filling in the details of the mission to Sabine, Dolores realises he was in all black, the large white overcoat he was usually recognised for nowhere on him. Instead, she finally notices that the white blanket she had been using wasn't a blanket at all. Was she really that out of it? Disko couldn't be too hard on herself though, she did literally die from a headshot wound. She also couldn't find the energy to respond or participate in the conversation the team was having for the remainder of the trip, only nodding her head and using her fingers as a pain and comfort scale asked by Sage when necessary. 

No one blamed her, of course, recovery right after resurrection always felt horrid, no better than a hangover, if you were to ask her. But she wasn't withdrawing from the conversation because she was in pain. Scrunching her lover's coat in her gloved hands, she wrapped herself snuggly in it as she inhaled the scent of Moroccan mint tea. The strong smell, combined with the coolness of Sage's healing orbs, made her feel incredibly comfortable, so much so it was almost able to block out the sound of the propellers above them. In a daze, she barely notices when Amir takes a seat at the side of her mattress, putting his palm over Dolores' forehead, and casually gauging her temperature as he continues his conversation with Hazal and Ling Ying. She doesn't do much to stop him, instead relishing in how utterly tender the touch is, as well as reel in the fact he's only doing this for her. Sage's word is enough for the others, but only when he ascertains with his own touch that she's not feverish does he return to the cockpit, wanting to let Brimstone know that everyone was revived and well.

 

"I'm glad he found you, Disko." Sage chimes up, the second her fellow sentinel was out of sight. Dolores doesn't think she's ever heard Sage use her real name.

"He's a lot happier nowadays, ya?" Hazal interjects, and Ling Ying gives that motherly smile when she nods in agreement. Instead of responding with something normal, like " I'm glad I found him too " or " Really? That's great! " Dolores blurts out something else entirely.

"So like, does everyone know...?" 

When three pairs of eyes blink back at her, she realises she has her answer.

"Was it supposed to be a secret?" Sabine inquires, in a way that sounds neither teasing nor sarcastic. When Hazal's mismatched coloured eyes light up, Disko can already hear the "I told you so." without the Turkish woman even saying a word. Not that she could have a chance to say it anyway, as the door of the cockpit opens again, making everyone jump just a little.

The women all avert their gaze when Amir returns, obliviously continuing his previous subject matter with Ling Ying and Hazal, who were trying their hardest to not sound like they were just gossiping about their fellow protocol member. 

Sabine raises a brow at the display, evidently a little amused. The controller's gaze follows Cypher's movement, where he sits back on a side of Disko's bed for the second time. That itself was out of the ordinary, Sabine thinks. In the short few years the protocol has been together, Cypher has only ever socialised and jested with the team while leaning against a wall, or keeping to himself to a corner of the room, fidgeting with a trapwire. Now, conversing with his teammates in a more extraverted manner, his entire disposition was far more welcoming and approachable. Ever observant, Sabine smiles under her mask (a usual surgical one, rather than her hazmat one) when she sees him shift his weight enough to place a hand over the duelist's, linking their fingers together. 

Disko's face was so full of warmth, you'd never be able to guess she had perished just a few hours ago. The smile Disko sends Sabine could easily be mistaken for all her other bright grins, but Sabine knew her agents better than she'd care to admit. This was a blissful smile, one that conveyed a contentedness not even the cocktails or thrill of battle could bring.

Sabine faces her main duelist, her brow quirking again to reiterate her point. " So, was it supposed to be a secret?"

 

"Nah, I guess not."